salerno 1943, comic book artist needs your help

Hello mates, Im currently illustrating a ww2 comic book which will be a seven part series when im done.I have finished 2 volumes so far dealing with north africa and sicily. I really want to get all our facts straight and all the little details historically accurate, i do my fair bit of research but i always feel that im missing something...hopefully you guys can help me out.ok so here it goes so far...

volume 3 takes place august,september 1943 in salerno and naples.

question 1: did the us 7th army have any down time to check out the cities or go to a cafe.

question 2: how did the itallian people treat them?

question 3:anyone have anygood pics of civillian life at the time?

question 4: was life somewhat normal at this time for the civillians or were they completely war torn?

ill prob have more questions as i go...hope im not asking to much but id greatly appreciate your time... heres a few page samples from vol 1 and 2

Hello mates, Im currently illustrating a ww2 comic book which will be a seven part series when im done.I have finished 2 volumes so far dealing with north africa and sicily. I really want to get all our facts straight and all the little details historically accurate, i do my fair bit of research but i always feel that im missing something...hopefully you guys can help me out.ok so here it goes so far...

volume 3 takes place august,september 1943 in salerno and naples.

question 1: did the us 7th army have any down time to check out the cities or go to a cafe.

question 2: how did the itallian people treat them?

question 3:anyone have anygood pics of civillian life at the time?

question 4: was life somewhat normal at this time for the civillians or were they completely war torn?

ill prob have more questions as i go...hope im not asking to much but id greatly appreciate your time... heres a few page samples from vol 1 and 2

oh yeah its entitled liberation sea

thanks Dave Norton

Dave,

The U.S. forces that landed at Salerno were the Fifth Army, not the Seventh (Seventh was on Sicily but not on the Italian mainland). Note this force included British X Corps with the 46th and 56th Infantry Divisions. The battle itself lasted about a week. U.S. forces were the VI Corps with the 36th and 45th Infantry Divisions, later reinforced by the 82nd Airborne Division.

There wasn't (much if any) down time at Salerno. The invasion almost failed because of German counter-attacks; at one point, the 82nd Airborne Division had to airdrop into the Salerno area to reinforce the beachhead and break up German counter-attacks. Individual soldiers probably liberated an occasional wine cellar, though ...

On Naples, Wiki mentions: "During World War II, Naples was the first Italian city to rise up against the Nazi military occupation; between September 28 and October 1, 1943 the people of the city rose up and pushed the Germans out, in what became known as the "four days of Naples". By the time the Anglo-American forces arrived downtown, they found Naples already free, and continued on instead towards Rome."

The question of civilian conditions -- variable. It depended if the Allies had to fight for a locality or not, if it had been bombed or not, etc. I think it a fair guess that most places near Salerno got hit pretty hard because of the heavy fighting in the area.

BWilson:wow man thanks a million...great info...i didnt know that about the 7th army..ill have to make some revisions....love your idea about the wine cellars.if it makes it in the book ill give you credit for sure.

about naples:they must have stopped briefly...no? few hours? or did they go straight through..... i guess what im looking for is a quiet moment where the guys can reflect on some memories of tunisia.Thanks again for sharing your knowledge

BWilson:wow man thanks a million...great info...i didnt know that about the 7th army..ill have to make some revisions....love your idea about the wine cellars.if it makes it in the book ill give you credit for sure.

about naples:they must have stopped briefly...no? few hours? or did they go straight through..... i guess what im looking for is a quiet moment where the guys can reflect on some memories of tunisia.Thanks again for sharing your knowledge

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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
“The first lesson is that you can't lose a war if you have command of the air, and you can't win a war if you haven't.” - General Jimmy Doolittle

I imagine they would have paused through Naples...the whole Pompeii thing. I've been there, and its hard not to look at what remains of the Volcano there. Remember Mt. St. Helens when it erupted? Took off the top 1/3rd of the Mountain? Pompeii is like that too, pretty amazing.

BWilson:wow man thanks a million...great info...i didnt know that about the 7th army..ill have to make some revisions....love your idea about the wine cellars.if it makes it in the book ill give you credit for sure.

about naples:they must have stopped briefly...no? few hours? or did they go straight through..... i guess what im looking for is a quiet moment where the guys can reflect on some memories of tunisia.Thanks again for sharing your knowledge

Dave,

You're quite welcome. I checked the US Army official history in the library today. Naples was apparently heavily damaged by bombing. It sounds like the combat troops moved through pretty fast, but there was a holdup at a river south of Naples while the Allied troops waited for bridges to be constructed. Perhaps you can develop a plot situation from that.

Oh, with the change of army numbers (5 vs 7), the army commander also changed, Mark Clark was the Fifth Army commanding general during the Salerno invasion.

Check out www.kwanah.com the web site for the 36th ID and post this same request. They are the most helpful people around.

Naples was a WILD place. Naples also had a US Military backed house of prostition there. After the capture of Rome it became a holding or staging area for replacment troops either fighting on through northern Italy and some divisions getting set for the invasion of S France. There are so many good books on this subject..... Good Luck !!